Fruit picker



FRANK i ivi. fromr'xrns, "or nprrinili,y vinGIivrAj f To'laZZ wit-mn' it may concern? 'Be it kno-wntha-t' I', FRANK MTOMPKINS;

a' citizenof Vthe United States, residing at Duield, lin. the coiinty'ofScott and :State- (jfl/virginia, haveinventedI certain new and use-ful `Improvementsin Fruit lPickers',-loffl 'i upon'the'spout being.; thus avoided.

which the following'is a specification.

This invention-relates to fruit pickers and has for its object the provisie-n of alight, cheap and' durable device by the; use of which fruit may be readily harvested without bruising oi'-v otherwise injuring 'the same 'and without requiring the operator'to climbI thev fruit trees or ascend ladders. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand willbe hereinafter' fully lset forth.

1n thel drawing`' I Figure 1 is a perspective view'of a lfruit picker embodying my invention;

Fig. 2v is an enlarged perspectiveviewl of 3 of canvas or other lexiblemateri'al hav-- ing. the'requisite durability and this tube Jinl actual practice, isjattachedto the mouth` of a'rfbag carried upon the shoulder -of thc operator, the bag not forming van essential part; of the invention and', therefore,-being` omitted from the drawings. To attach the tube.' or spout to the rigid ltubular casing,

I provide at the end of the flexible spout a plurality of' tongues 4 which are carried npwardly within the lowermost hoop -2 land then folded over'said hoop betweenl the longitudinal wires 1 and fastened to the'body of the spout by buttons or any other con-y venient devices, as indicated at 5. To maintain the shape of this spout at its point of connection with the metallic tubular casing, I provide the spring arms 6 which have their upper ends secured to the lower hoops 2 and between their ends are curved so as to extend laterally from the metallic tube or casing. The ends of the spring arms 6 re- 'mote from the said casing are attached to a lexi ble reinforcing 1 strap. 7 which lis arched over the spoutfB 'andsecuredthereto in any` convenient manner `soAl that' the shape of the. spoutv will be maintained? :at the point whereit receives the-impact of: the dropping fruit, bruising of the lfruit andfexcessive wear Some of the wires or lightfrods 1^,.which1` constitu-tel o'r-rdenethe tubular casing, terminate'at the uppermost hoop 2, while others extend beyond Asaidhoop and have their ex. tremities united to a rimV 8, a space, indicated atV 9,-; being thus provided to permit the tubular casing to be readily :fitted around afruit which 'is' to be harvested. It will, ofV

course-,be understood that the wires 1 are disposed: atthe inner sides ofthe hoops so that theinteri-or-of the/casing willbe smooth and will not-present obstructionsto the downward passage ofy the harvested fruit. Mounted yfor lrocking movement 'upon the uppermost hoop 2 is a fruit stripper 10 which as shown clearly 'in Fig. 2, consists of a single-strandl of vWire doubled ,upon

itself to present a plurality of bights4 or fingers 11 having av slightly dishedf forma` tion. "I-twill: be notedthat the fingers decrease successively in length fromthe cen` tral-ngers Yto the Vend Ifingers and that the extremitiesl of thewire strandare extended relative to the "fingers and terminate in eyes 13 `'pivotallyengaging` the fulcrum. rod.12v carried bythe uppermost hoop 2. The wire strand: which is bent into shape to form the stripper is alsofformed at its center to projecty angularly 'from 'the bases of the central ingers'lI-and present a crankarm14 which projects upwardly and 'outwardly from-thev ystripper when the latter is in its normal position. A spring 15 is coiled about 1 the fullo-rum 4rod 12 and? .has one end --formedv into 1a-hook 16v engaged around onevof: the rods or:y wiresv 1 .and 'its oppositefend formedintoalliool: 30 engaged overone side of .abail 31 which is mountedV for rocking movement upon the fulcrum rod 12. Theintermediater portion' of the'bail bears upon the fingers so that the force of the spring isexertedV to maintain the stripper in its lowered position. To the outer end of the crank arm'14, I attach the upper end of the pull vwire or rod 17 which has its lower end securedto a cam or short lever 18 Whichis pivoted upon a base plate 19-near the upperend thereof which plate, inturfn, yis secured to adjacent hoops 2, as will be readily understood on reference to Fig. 1. At the upper end of the base plate 19, I pivotally attach a handle member 2O which is provided with a longitudinal slot 2,1 near its pivot through which the pull wire 17 may ass. :I: point remote from the handle 20 and it will be generally found advantageous to locatethe handle 22 at least a distance of forty-five degrees upon the circumference of *Y the tubular casing` from the handle 20. In

the'2drawings,-I .have sho-wn the handle 22 as formed by doubling one of thevlongitudinal wires 1 upon itself around adjacent hoops 2,with the intermediate portion of the handle wrapped upon itself to form a gripping surface. v

-In the use of the device, the main tubular casing or wire frame. has its upper end brought into position around the fruit while c pressure is exerted upon the handle 2O to force the leveror. cam 18 close to thebase plate 19 ,thereby pulling upon the wire or cable 1T V.and raising v'the stripper. Under ,the influence of the spring-,15, the camk 18 normally stands outffrom the base. plate 19k so that it bears constantly against the under side of the lever handle 20. VSlight pressure of the operators fingers uponthe handle 2() will effect. movement of the cam toward the casing and holdvthe cam to the casing so as yby v`the handles 20 and 22 and the handle 2() may be givenfsuch'shape or inclination as will most conveniently enable the operator to firmly hold thepicker whileV at the same time permitting the stripper to operate `efficiently. MyfA improved fruit picker 'is' eX- ceedingly simple intheconstruction and ar` rangement of its partsgit may be carried for avconsiderable period without producingexcesswefamgue 1n the operator and by its A second handle 22 is provided atVVV `use fruit may be rapidly stripped from a tree and deliveredinto a bag carried by the operator without loss ordamage. f

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: c

1.V A fruit picker, the combination of a tubular. casing Aadapted at its upper end to `encircle a fruit to be harvested, a stripper mounted in thel upper end of the casing and consisting' of a single wire strand having its ends kpivotally mounted upon the casing and its intermediate, portion presenting parallel spaced,` fingers, means `carried by the casing for yieldablyv holdingvcthe stripper in.v a lowered position with its fingers extending across the casing, and manually operable means mounted on the casing for withdrawing the stripper fromacross the casing.

2. In a fruit picker, the combination 'of a tubular casing, means 'at the lup-per 'end of the casing to strip fruit from a` tree, a flexible spout connected with the lower end of the casingjand` leading therefrom, and

sustaining members extending yieldable longitudinally of the spout externally thereof and attached at one end to the lower end of the casing and at the opposite end to said spout lat a point spaced from the casing...

3. In a fruit picker, the combination .of a tubular casing, a stripper finger mounted'for rocking movement at the upper end-of said casing, a crank extending `from said stripper,`

a cam mounted yupon thecasing near the lower end thereof, a pull wire connecting said cam with said crank, and a handle member mountedupon the casing and bearing upon the 'outer end of saidcam and having a .longitudinal slot through V,which the pull wire passes.

L In a fruit a casing consisting of a pluraltyof` longitudinal rods,vand hoops encirclingand secured to the rods, some ofthe rods extending above the uppermost hoop,pawstripper kmounted on the uppermost hoop for rocking movement, yieldable means carried ,by said hoop for holding the stripper normally lowered acrossthe endfof the casing,`and a handle Amounted on ,thev casingl near. the lower -end thereof and operatively connected with the stripper to raise thesame.

In testimony vwhereof I affix. mysignature. Y n

Y FRANICML TOMPKINS {las} t i picker, fthe combination of 

